Strategies To Overcome Fear of Flying, Which Works!

I was feeling difficulty in breathing and my mind was getting numb. I didn’t know what to do. Boarding on the aircraft had been completed, however it was waiting to take off. It has been 15-20 minutes and we were still on the runway.

I was getting restless; I could feel my blood pressure rise. Thankfully my mind was stillI working, sensing danger I struck conversation with the fellow passenger. It diverted my mind and I started feeling slightly better, meanwhile the plane took off. As soon as the aircraft was airborne, I became normal.

I was wondering what had happened to me. I had never experienced such a thing while flying earlier. I could not figure out the reason behind it. After a month or so I was once again scheduled to travel by air on a business tour. Suddenly the memories of my last air travel became fresh in my mind. I froze with fear, I did not want to face the same situation once again. Even thinking about it made me sick.

 I looked back at my last travel and I realised that as long as the aircraft was in motion I ddi not have problem. However, when the craft came to a halt and the doors were closed I started getting panic attacks.

I further dug deeper into the reasons for my feelings. I could figure out that I was terrified because of sense of loss of control (whatever it means). I didn’t know how to cope up with this situation. With less than fortnight to go for my travel, I was desperately looking for solution to my problem.

I did little bit of research and formulated an action plan to solve this problem. I diligently practiced it for a week and got astonishing results.

If you also have a fear of flying, you can use the following steps to get rid of it.

Visualisation

Sit comfortably, cross legged, on the floor or on a chair. Relax your body from head to toe. Start visualising yourself traveling from your house to the airport. At the airport visualise yourself sitting  in waiting lounge after the security clearance. Visualise you walking towards the aircraft for boarding. Now your body may get flooded with fear. Feel the sensations in your body, don’t do anything just feel the sensations. Observe it for a while, be comfortable with the sensations. Don’t try to get rid of it. You will notice that after a while either the sensations will disappear or you will become comfortable with it.

See yourself walking towards the aircraft with smile on your face and relaxed body posture. Make everything as real as possible. Visualise every detail as vivid as possible. Play this movie in your mind everyday morning and evening over and over again. With every practice you shall be able to control your sensations quickly and effectively.

Your subconscious mind can not tell the difference between a real and an imagined event.So it will take your visualisation practice as a real event and learn to respond to it as you have been  practicing in your imagination.

How to Use the Technique While Travelling?

Don’t expect that you shall not feel scared after doing this exercise on your first journey itself. You will still feel the same sensation of fear, however now you know how to control/be comfortable with your emotions and not allow them to paralyse you.

When you start approaching the plane you might feel stressed. At this point watch your body for any sensations. If you spot sensations, acknowledge its presence and don’t resist it. As you have been doing the visualisation exercise, just observe the sensation without any resistance. Just be with the sensations and with smile on your face and attention on the sensations, approach the craft as you would have practiced during the visualisation exercise. In quick time you shall become comfortable with your emotions. The aim is to be comfortable with your bodily sensations and not fight to get rid of it.

With every flight you take you will feel less and less stressful and eventualy the dread of travelling by plane will vanish.

Focus on Your Breathing

While travelling focus on your breathing. Do belly breathing. Inhale slowly, fill your belly with air and let it expand fully. Now exhale slowly and completely, all the while keeping your focus on rise and fall of your belly.  Keep the practice on as long as possible. This will calm your mind down.

  

Distract Yourself

While on the plane keep yourself engaged with activities you love. You could choose to read a book, or watch a comedy movie or listen to music or talk to your fellow passenger. This will distract your mind.

 Positive Self talk

Have faith on the efficacy of the visualisation exercise you have been doing. Keep feeding yourself with uplifting thoughts. If you feel slight discomfort remind yourself that you can handle this situation.

I practiced the above mentioned strategies for about a week before my scheduled travel and I was able to fly without any difficulty. After 3-4 such travels the fear of flying went away completely. It doesn’t even cross my mind now.

Take Aways!

By practicing following strategies one can overcome the fear of flying:

1.    Visualisation Exercis- As vivid as possible.

2.    Focusing of breathing- Belly breathing with focus on rise and fall of the belly

3.    Distracting your mind- Engage in activities to distract your mind

4.    Positive Self Talk- Feed your mind with positive thoughts. Remind yourself " I can handle it"

Let me know what are your strategies to overcome any fear !